Yes, there is a BS flag on the field, and there bears an explanation of the penalty... Senator Barack Obama is a complete idiot in a "no idiot zone" for saying the following...

"And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief."

But first, a little personal history...

This is a photo of the SUPER-FLY TNT. This photo was taken by me as we were setting up in an ORP in the mountains surrounding our FOB in south-eastern Afghanistan.

We had pushed out our security to set the ORP (composed of the Afghan soldiers we were mentoring) and with their security out before we conducted our movement to contact to ensure no one was setting up to launch rockets at us, I snapped this picture.

I want everyone to notice that my issued M-4 is hanging on the mirror of my UP Armored Hummer. I am about 20 feet away and I have my M-9 Pistol with me. I also have my basic load of ammo, as does Capt. Jack, who is in the turret. That is my new issued Kevlar helmet in the hood.

And for you KISS mafia types (Keep It Super Safe out there soldier), I put my helmet back on after I snapped this and carried my M-4 the rest of the entire day.

In that gun-truck, I had enough ammunition for a basic load for each of those weapons, fuel to get me halfway to Islamabad, food and water for 3 days for 2 men, and enough other miscellaneous equipment to start a small war...

Lucky for me, I was in a place I could do and was expected to do that very thing.

Which brings me to the beginning of my point about how Barack Obama is complete idiot for opening up his pie-hole about something he obviously knows nothing about...

My job was to mentor, train, and assist the NCOs of my assigned Afghan Infantry Company. One of those subtasks is training their men in the use of their organic weapons (AK-47/74, SVD, RPK, RPG, RPD, PKM, and 82mm Mortar).

Being an MP, I had to get a crash course in 18B. And I did. The part they don't tell you about before you get in country, is the Afghan Supply system. And that was a system based upon shortages.

The warlord system of supply is not quite worked out of the Afghan military. Their supply system is horribly bureaucratic and is not geared toward supplying the companies, but in demonstrating who has the power ("I have the stuff, therefore I have the power") They are still working that out, with our assistance. As a result, we did scrounge RPG-7 rounds, 82mm Mortar rounds, and rifle ammunition from any caches that we hit, knowing that we could wait for months to be re-supplied otherwise.

But I want to be clear to everyone on Senator Obama's points:

There were no shortages of anything "American" that I needed to fight the battle. We did have some issues with supply in our own chain of command (I think they thought that we weren't really "at war" and wanted justifications for everything) and in getting more crew served weapons, as many of those were headed to Iraq, and between repairs and replacements, extra heavy weapons were hard to come by. I knew all of the other units in the area and we got many of our supplies from Active Duty units that we might operate with or be co-located with. I never wanted for ammunition, food, fuel, explosives, American Mortar rounds (for the 120mm that I got from SF) or other classes of supply.

I did not have to "scavenge" a weapon off of any dead Taliban. Their captured or liberated equipment was something that was returned to the service of the Afghan government (if it could be made serviceable after I got done taking it from the Taliban) or destroyed. My M-4, and all of those guns inside that truck were of vastly better quality than anything the Taliban had. They worked as advertised.

Although I was allowed to teach the NCOs how to teach their soldiers how to operate their weapons, I was prohibited by my command (all the way up the chain of command) from using these weapons on operations. It was a stupid rule, and I did carry an 82mm mortar and rounds in the back of my truck on a few operations to augment our firepower. That would be the extent of my use of any "foreign" weapons.

No unit that I ran into, regardless of their designation or acronym, carried anything other than what was issued by the US Government, at least that I could tell. In many cases, they had more than they needed and would give some of it to me without even asking.

I was issued my M-4 and M-9 Beretta in the US and carried them for the entire deployment and turned it all in when I got to Ft. Carson.

Every unit I conducted operations with, visited my firebase, assisted us in operations, or co-located with us had a good supply of whatever they needed to ensure the Taliban stayed dead.

So, No, Senator Obama, the situation you described at the debate never happened anywhere I went. That assertion by you is as full of crap as a Christmas Goose, and I think you know it.

A closed mouth gathers no foot Senator Obama. Better for you to stick with "Hope" and "Change."

Comments

Yes, there is a BS flag on the field, and there bears an explanation of the penalty... Senator Barack Obama is a complete idiot in a "no idiot zone" for saying the following...

"And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief."

But first, a little personal history...

This is a photo of the SUPER-FLY TNT. This photo was taken by me as we were setting up in an ORP in the mountains surrounding our FOB in south-eastern Afghanistan.

We had pushed out our security to set the ORP (composed of the Afghan soldiers we were mentoring) and with their security out before we conducted our movement to contact to ensure no one was setting up to launch rockets at us, I snapped this picture.

I want everyone to notice that my issued M-4 is hanging on the mirror of my UP Armored Hummer. I am about 20 feet away and I have my M-9 Pistol with me. I also have my basic load of ammo, as does Capt. Jack, who is in the turret. That is my new issued Kevlar helmet in the hood.

And for you KISS mafia types (Keep It Super Safe out there soldier), I put my helmet back on after I snapped this and carried my M-4 the rest of the entire day.

In that gun-truck, I had enough ammunition for a basic load for each of those weapons, fuel to get me halfway to Islamabad, food and water for 3 days for 2 men, and enough other miscellaneous equipment to start a small war...

Lucky for me, I was in a place I could do and was expected to do that very thing.

Which brings me to the beginning of my point about how Barack Obama is complete idiot for opening up his pie-hole about something he obviously knows nothing about...

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The Authors

Former Paratrooper and Army Officer, "Blackfive" started this blog upon learning of the valorous sacrifice of a friend that was not reported by the journalist whose life he saved. Email: blackfive AT gmail DOT com

Instapinch
Bill Paisley, otherwise known as Pinch, is a 22 year (ongoing) active and
reserve naval aviator. He blogs over at www.instapinch.com on a veritable
cornucopia of various and sundry items and will bring a tactical naval
aviator's perspective to Blackfive. Readers be warned: any comments of or
about the F-14 Tomcat will be reverential and spoken in low, hushed tones.
Email: wpaisley AT comcast DOT net

Mr. Wolf has over 26 years in the Army, Army NG, and USAR. He’s Airborne with 5 years as an NCO, before becoming an officer. Mr. Wolf has had 4 company commands. Signal Corp is his basic branch, and Public Affairs is his functional area. He recently served 22 straight months in Kuwait and Iraq, in Intel, PA, and senior staff of MNF-I. Mr. Wolf is now an IT executive. He is currently working on a book on media and the Iraq war. Functional gearhead.

In Iraq, he received the moniker of Mr. Wolf after the Harvey Kietel character in Pulp Fiction, when "challenges" arose, they called on Mr. Wolf...
Email: TheDOTMrDOTWolfAT gmail DOT com

Deebow is a Staff Sergeant and a Military Police Squad Leader in the Army National Guard. In a previous life, he served in the US Navy. He has over 19 years of experience in both the Maritime and Land Warfare; including deployments to Southwest Asia, Thailand, the South Pacific, South America and Egypt. He has served as a Military Police Team Leader and Protective Services Team Leader and he has served on assignments with the US State Department, US Air Force Security Police, US Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He recently spent time in Afghanistan working with, training and fighting alongside Afghan Soldiers and is now focused on putting his 4 year Political Science degree to work by writing about foreign policy, military security policy and politics.

McQ has 28 years active and reserve service. Retired. Infantry officer. Airborne and Ranger. Consider my 3 years with the 82nd as the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Interests include military issues and policy and veteran's affairs.
Email: mcq51 -at - bellsouth -dot- net

Tantor is a former USAF navigator/weapon system officer (WSO) in F-4E Phantoms who served in the US, Asia, and Europe. He is now a curmudgeonly computer geek in Washington, DC, picking the taxpayers pocket. His avocations are current events, aviation, history, and conservative politics.

Twenty-three years of Active and Reserve service in the US Army in SF (18B), Infantry and SOF Signal jobs with operational deployments to Bosnia and Africa. Since retiring he's worked as Senior Defense Analyst on SOF and Irregular Warfare projects and currently ensconced in the emerging world of Cyberspace.

The Authors Emeritus

Major Pain --
A Marine who began his blog in Iraq and reflects back on what he learned there and in Afghanistan. To the point opinions, ideas and thoughts on military, political and the media from One Marine’s View.Email: onemarinesview AT yahoo DOT com

Uber Pig was an Infantryman from late 1991 until early 1996, serving with Second Ranger Battalion, I Corps, and then 25th Infantry Division. At the time, the Army discriminated against enlisted soldiers who wanted use the "Green to Gold" program to become officers, so he left to attend Stanford University. There, he became expert in detecting, avoiding, and surviving L-shaped ambushes, before dropping out to be as entrepreneurial as he could be. He is now the founder of a software startup serving the insurance and construction industries, and splits time between Lake Tahoe, Boonville, and San Francisco, CA.

Uber Pig writes for Blackfive a) because he's the proud brother of an enlisted Civil Affairs Reservist who currently serves in Iraq, b) because he looks unkindly on people who make it harder for the military in general, and for his brother in particular, to succeed at their missions and come home in victory, and c) because the Blackfive readers and commenters help keep him sane.

COB6 spent 24 years in the active duty Army that included 5 combat tours with service in the 1st Ranger Battalion and 1st Special Forces Group . COB6 was enlisted (E-7) and took the OCS route to a commission. COB6 retired a few years back as a field grade Infantry officer.
Currently COB6 has a son in the 82nd Airborne that just returned from his third tour and has a newly commissioned daughter in the 4th Infantry Division.